Last night my wife and I watched the first two episodes of The Secret Millionaire. On the website the show is billed as “Some of America’s most successful self-made millionaires are embarking on a truly incredible journey. They will spend a week in the country’s poorest areas and ultimately reward some unsung community heroes with hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money.”

For some reason, we’ve never heard of it before. Maybe it is because we only watch TV shows on Hulu, and don’t have cable.

Last night we were flipping through Hulu Plus to see if we could find something interesting and the title caught my eye. When I clicked on the show, in Episode 1, it talked about Dani Johnson. I was curious so I clicked to watch the show. I immediately recognized Dani Johnson!

Dani Johnson is one of my favorite Motivational Success speakers. Her story is incredible and she has overcome a lot to be the success that she is.

In the episode, Dani goes to live in Knoxville, TN, in one of the most neglected neighborhoods. She walks around and talks to people and finds out about an incredible place called “The Love Kitchen”. The Love Kitchen was established by two sisters and feeds over 2,000 of the poor and elderly every week! Well, Dani talked to the sisters and went to work cooking and helping out.

Next Dani found a place called The Joy of Music, which is a school that gives free music lessons to disadvantaged kids. It was incredible as they toured the school, the director introduced 3 students who had full ride music scholarships to college, because of what they learned in the school.

Finally, Dani volunteered at Special Spaces, an organization that creates dream bedrooms for children who are suffering from life-threatening diseases. They went to the home of a little girl who is battling Leukemia and turned her bedroom into a Fairy Princess room.

At the end of the show, which is the end of the week, Dani went back to each of these charitable organizations and made cash gifts in the 10′s of thousands of dollars range! The most touching part of these scenes was the gratitude that the people in these organizations showed when they received these checks. Immediately each one of them said, “You don’t know how many people we can help with this money!” There were smiles, hugs and tears all around.

At the end Dani even went to visit the family of that little girl and gave them a check to help them with medical expenses. Everyone was hugging and crying. It was such a touching moment.

To me the purpose of the show is two fold:

It shows that you can get out and volunteer your time and make a difference in people’s lives.

It shows that once you have wealth, you can contribute in a much more meaningful way by donating to deserving charitable organizations.

As we watched the show, my wife and I looked at each other and said, “I can’t wait until we can have that kind of impact on the lives of people.”

If you are like me and in your forties, retirement is only 25 years away. The estimates now to maintain your standard of living is that you need to have 1 to 2 Million Dollars in the bank in order to retire!

For people only 25 years away from retirement, it means that in order to maintain your current standard of living, you’ll need to deposit at least $40,000 to $80,000 per year to your retirement account!

That is just to maintain your standard of living.

That doesn’t include any special activities like cruising the world, sitting on beaches, or visiting the children and grandchildren.

So, are you ready?

Does your current career path project that you’ll be able to reach $2 Million in the bank in the next 25 years?

In my experience, except for the highest level of executives, there aren’t many people who can bank $40,000 to $80,000 per year and leave it there. Life gets in the way, and there are other priorities that require that money.

66% of Americans are worried about not having enough money for retirement. 60% are worried about not being able to pay for a serious illness, and 58% are worried about not being able to maintain the same standard of living.

A good Plan B will allow you to start building your business part-time now, while you are still employed full time. If you commit to achieving your goals, and you have a reliable, long-term business vehicle, you can build this part-time business for many years.

The secret to succeeding with a Plan B is to not go spend that money on the riches of the world!

Instead, you need to use that money to create an emergency fund, get out of debt, and save for your eventual retirement.

My plan is to take 1/2 of the money I earn from my part-time business and put it into savings. The first $5000 will be used for emergencies, and if used, will be replenished immediately. After the Emergency Fund is funded, then the rest will go into retirement savings. There are many retirement savings vehicles you can look into, I’m not a CPA so I won’t go into the details.

The other 1/2 of the money is for investing. Either invest it into the business, with advertising, training, seminars, etc…, or purchase income producing assets, such as rental properties, businesses, etc…

There are some great books that explain how to invest for retirement. Just check out the Business section of the library or the bookstore to get more details.

However, in order for this plan to work, you need to have a solid, viable, residual income producing Plan B vehicle.

If you’re interested in seeing what my Plan B is, let me know by leaving a comment on this article, leaving me a message in Facebook, or Contacting Me Here.

Hundreds of Thousands of people are setting up their Plan B vehicle right now to prepare for their retirement. Will you be one of them?

No, that’s not some cheesy political slogan. And no, I’m not talking about the kind of change where you sit back and do nothing.

The change I’m talking about is the kind of change you need to make in your life when you get committed to taking control of your future. Without making some changes in your life, in 5 years you’ll most likely be in the same situation you’re in now, or worse.

If you’re like 98% of the rest of the world, you have made decisions in your past, which have led you to accept that where you are now in life, is where you should be and it isn’t going to get any better.

But, if you have any hope of a brighter future, one of financial and total lifestyle freedom, then you need to make some changes.

First, you need to change the way you think. Most people think in terms of lack, poverty mindset and fear. For example, if someone offers you the chance to attend a life changing event, do you immediately think, “How much will it cost me?” If you think like that, that is from a fear-based, poverty mindset. If you decide to make a change in your life, you need to change your thinking to, “How much will this investment bring back to my life, and help me to achieve my goals and dreams?” That’s thinking like someone who is in control of their future.

The best way to make the change in your thinking is to immerse yourself in Motivation and Success. You can do that by investing in audio and DVD programs by proven motivational coaches, such as John Di Lemme. John not only talks the talk of motivation and success, but he is a walking testimonial of his teachings. But better than that, he has pages and pages of testimonials from others who have applied his teachings to change their lives and achieve their goals and dreams. You can pick up your first John Di Lemme program for free, here, Find Your Why Now. When you immerse yourself in motivational and success materials, you will begin to build a foundation of self-belief and confidence.

The next thing you need to change is your schedule. If you are not on a schedule, then you’re life has no direction, and your time is wasted. I just purchased my Millionaire Paper Planner, because I’ve tried using the calendar on my phone, and it just isn’t working for me. So, I purchased a Millionaire Paper Planner (Day-Runner) and spend 10 – 15 minutes every day to plan my day. Once you get scheduled, you’re on your way to achieving your dreams.

Another change you need to make is to take decisive action towards achieving your dreams. You can listen to all the motivational and success material in the world, but until you take A-C-T-I-O-N you will never achieve your dreams. As you build your self-belief, you need to step out and take uncomfortable action in order to progress toward achieving your dreams.

Nothing will Change until you step out in Faith and take Uncomfortable Challenging Action.
– John Di Lemme

Without taking action, you will never achieve your goals and dreams.

In order to achieve your goals and dreams you need to make some changes in your life. Immerse yourself in self-development material to build a solid foundation of self-belief. Start living by a schedule. Step out and take action. When you make these changes in your life, you’ll start to have a hope of achieving the desires of your heart.

This week millions of people in the United States and throughout the world watched the season finale of NBC’s hit show The Biggest Loser. If you are unfamiliar with the show, it is a reality show which takes morbidly obese people and puts them on a ranch with fitness trainers and they learn how to be healthy, lose weight and compete to earn $250,000.

That is an extremely brief overview of the show. However, the show is so much more than that, and anyone who is in Network Marketing or any sort of home-based business can learn some valuable lessons from the show.

Total Immersion

Probably the biggest advantage that the contestants on the show have and the reason they are able to lose such an incredible amount of weight in such a short time is total immersion. The contestants are put on a ranch with no outside distractions. They are taught nutrition, physiology, mental and physical exercise. Because they are completely removed from everyday life, they are able to concentrate 100% on their daily actions and their goals.

Network Marketers need to totally immerse themselves in self-development and motivational material. They need to cut themselves off from all outside influences so they can concentrate 100% on bettering themselves and achieving their goals. By eliminating outside interferences a person can focus on their daily actions, self-development and their goals.

Trainers and Coaches

The contestants wouldn’t be successful if they were just put on the ranch with no guidance. The coaches and trainers, Bob and Jillian, and now Brett and Cara, spend hours with the contestants. They teach them how to exercise properly, how to push themselves to their limits, and how to get the most out of their workouts. They also motivate them by helping them determine what it was that got them in the shape they are in, and how to focus on their new goals in life. Sometimes it seems that they emotionally beat up the contestants, but what they are actually doing is breaking through barriers that have been keeping the contestants in their current status, so they can reshape their thinking.

To truly achieve success in Network Marketing, a person needs a mentor or coach. I haven’t heard a single Network Marketer stand on the stage after achieving their success and say, “I never spoke to anyone about how to do the business, nobody taught me what to say and what to do or how to act, and I never asked for advice from anyone.” No, quite the opposite is what you hear. “My mentor said to me…” or “I asked my mentor how to…” or “I joined a coaching program with…” If you listen to successful people long enough you’ll realize that not a single one of them achieved their success without mentoring and coaching from someone else. Those that struggle and fail in Network Marketing, sadly the majority of them, never found and listened to a mentor, or hired a success coach. Coaching is the million dollar secret to Network Marketing success!

Perseverance

The contestants on The Biggest Loser spend all day focused on nutrition, fitness and exercise. They are pushed by the trainers, and many times you’ll see some of them quit. There are times when someone will say, “I’m done.” and walk out the door to the gym. However, one of the trainers will usually follow them, and help the contestant discover what the true reason is that they want to quit, and also help them realize that their default reaction to quit has led them to the situation they are in. Most of the time the contestant will see the wisdom of the trainer and will return to the gym and their workout. This perseverance has led to incredible life changing moments for these contestants.

I’m not going to lie to you, Network Marketing is hard. When faced with the changes that need to take place in a person’s life, many quit Network Marketing. That is why you always hear, “My brother-in-law did that and he said it didn’t work.” The truth is, the brother-in-law didn’t work, and quit before he was able to make it work. It takes perseverance and a strong commitment to achieve success in Network Marketing. It is hard, but it is so worth it to achieve all your goals and dreams.

A Driving WHY

As contestants progress through the show, and they start losing weight and see that they can do it, their original goal just to lose weight disappears and they find a driving WHY to continue in the game. The winners of the show have a much bigger WHY than just wanting to lose their weight. For most it is an emotional WHY, such as wanting to lose weight to be able to start a family, or to be an example for their children, or to find true love. If their WHY is strong enough, the contestants push through all the pain and hurt to achieve incredible weight loss and their goals in life.

A Network Marketer needs to identify his or her WHY. Your WHY is the reason you want to be in Network Marketing. Your WHY must be more than money, because focusing on money will lead to greed, which will not produce the desired results. Your WHY needs to bring up strong emotions in you in order for it to be strong enough to get you through the tough times. Once you identify your WHY and focus on it every day, it will be easier to go out and do the work that needs to be done in order to be successful in Network Marketing.

The Biggest Loser is so much more than just a reality, weight-loss show. It is an amazing journey of people overcoming their default and bad habits, to become focused, driven, action-oriented, goal achievers. It is amazing to watch the transformation of the contestants during the seasons of The Biggest Loser. As they lose weight they start to grow mentally and emotionally and become different people both inside and out. Network Marketing will be just as transformative to a person. As they first build a foundation of self-belief and then grow in confidence and start seeing results, the Network Marketer is transformed into someone different. If a Network Marketer will adapt the same philosophies as The Biggest Loser, he or she will achieve the success they are looking for.

My mentor and coach, John Di Lemme, has released an incredible CD / DVD package called:

That title might turn off a bunch of people. I’m sorry if it offends, but if it does offend, you are not in the right frame of mind.

I don’t want to be a millionaire to say, “Look at me, I’m rich!” That’s not why I want to be a millionaire.

It isn’t about the money.

It isn’t about me.

I never watch Oprah, but when I came home just now, my wife had it playing in our bedroom. I have respect for Oprah for what she has accomplished in her career. She has overcome tremendous opposition and adversity to achieve the success she has achieved.

But what I admire most about Oprah is the charity in her heart.

Today I just caught the tail end of a story about a woman from Africa, who grew up under terrible circumstances. She was forbidden to attend school and was married as a young girl. By the age of eighteen she already had three children. Yet she had a dream.

One day she wrote down her dream and then buried it under a rock. However, she never gave up on her dream and years later was able to come to the United States, get her education, and achieve her dream.

Now she is helping build a school in her village back home.

She is selling T-Shirts to help fund the project to rebuild the school that is already there. You can see her amazing story on Oprah’s site, Tererai Trent’s Story.

Her story is incredible!

But the inspiration for my blog post today is that after Oprah said she was buying a T-Shirt for everyone in the audience, she told her, “I’m going to help you rebuild the school. I’m donating one and a half million dollars to help you!”

That’s why I want to be a Millionaire!

I want to be able to donate money and time to charities. I want to establish the Anna Maria Foundation, which will help pay hospital expenses for terminally ill children. I want to be able to travel the world and do good.

A ceremonial brass bell stands ready during an official change of command ceremony

A few weeks ago an elite special operations unit of the United States miliatary, SEALs, performed an incredible operation. Lt. Cmdr Eric Greitens, in his article in the Wall Street Journal, “The SEAL Sensibility“, May 7, 2011, says, “Most of the men on that mission had dedicated the past decade of their lives to this fight, and they—and their families—had made great personal sacrifices.”

The men who made up that elite special group, didn’t wake up one day in early May and say, “I think I’ll go hunt down a major head of a terrorist organization.” These men “would have put in relentless practice for weeks beforehand—assaulting mock compounds, discussing contingencies and planning every detail of the operation,” says Greitens.

But even before the planning and preparation weeks before this particular mission, these men started their preparation years before. Their training started in Coronado, CA, in what is called Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training (BUD/S). This is the most grueling and difficult military training in the world. But one week in particular is more grueling and difficult than any military training in the world. This week is the infamous Hell Week.

Greitens says, “The pinnacle of SEAL training is known as Hell Week, a period of continuous tests and drills during which most classes sleep only a total of two to five hours…. A man enters a new world aiming to become something greater, and having subjected himself to the hardest tests of his life, he has either passed or failed.”

Only 10% to 20% of the men who enter BUD/S actually graduate from BUD/S. Only about 250 men graduate from BUD/S each year. They are truly the elite of the elite, the most specialized military unit of the world.

Those that quit BUD/S must ring a bell. “Out of the corner of my eye, I saw men running for the bell. First two men ran, and then two more, and then another. The instructors had carried the bell out with us to the beach. To quit, you rang the bell three times. I could hear it: Ding, ding, ding. Ding, ding, ding. Ding, ding, ding,” says Greitens.

But Greitens gives away the secret to the kind of man who doesn’t quit and successfully completes BUD/S. “Some men who seemed impossibly weak at the beginning of SEAL training—men who puked on runs and had trouble with pull-ups—made it. Some men who were skinny and short and whose teeth chattered just looking at the ocean also made it. Some men who were visibly afraid, sometimes to the point of shaking, made it too.”

“Almost all the men who survived possessed one common quality. Even in great pain, faced with the test of their lives, they had the ability to step outside of their own pain, put aside their own fear and ask: How can I help the guy next to me? They had more than the “fist” of courage and physical strength. They also had a heart large enough to think about others, to dedicate themselves to a higher purpose,” says Greitens.

It is incredible to note that the physical strength or athleticism of a man didn’t guarantee he would succeed in BUD/S. The one trait that all who succeeded was thinking about others, and a higher purpose. Those men had a clear and driving WHY that pushed them through the most grueling training in the world. Their WHY was bigger than themselves, and that is what it took to succeed.

The same is true in Network Marketing, MLM, Internet Marketing, or any home-based business. Your WHY must be bigger than yourself in order to succeed. Success is a 2 – 5 year process that will test you to your limits. You have to be dedicated to achieving your WHY and helping others in order to persevere through the process to achieve the true success you desire.

Have you ever walked by a location that was being prepared for a high rise building? If you have, you probably noticed that the first step in the construction process is to dig a big hole. The bigger the building will be, the deeper the hole needs to be. This is so they can drive support pillars down deep into the ground to give the building support. Day after day, there is a huge machine that is pounding the support beams deeper and deeper into the ground, so the building will be able to withstand not only it’s own weight, but also most storms that will come along.

The road to Network Marketing success begins the same way. You first have to dig out all the bad attitudes, training and noise in your life. If you’re 20, 30, 40 years old, there is a lot to dig out. Part of the digging process is to remove negative influences from your life. Start by turning off the TV! Don’t participate in “typical” conversations in Social Networks. You know the ones I mean, when everybody is complaining about something. This will help you start to dig the negative out of your life. But once you dig it all out, then you can start to build.

To start to build, you need to pound in the “support beams”. This is done by immersing yourself in positive, self-development material. Buy success and self-development books, CDs and DVDs, and spend 15 minutes (minimum) a day listening, reading, watching.

Now, I don’t want you to get the impression that once you do this for a few months, that you’ll be guaranteed instant success. The kind of success you seek, total Lifestyle Freedom, will take some time to achieve. It could be a two to five year process.

The high-riser that towers over the cityscape, takes years and years of constant, daily work to construct. It is the same with Lifestyle Freedom.

You need to start with the idea in mind that it could be years before you start to see any level of success. This is natural, and all part of the process. But…

DON’T QUIT!!

That is the number one key to success – DON’T QUIT!

Immerse yourself in self-development material. If you persevere through the tough times, developing good daily success habits, and don’t quit, you will be guaranteed success. It is a natural law. If you don’t quit, you will succeed!

One of my favorite sources of self-development material is John Di Lemme. John is a true Network Marketing success story, so he knows exactly what it takes to succeed in MLM. He has been there and done that.

Do yourself a favor and add some of John’s material to your Success Library.

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When you joined your Network Marketing opportunity, they probably gave you the title of distributor. Network Marketing gives product companies an avenue to distribute their products. The word-of-mouth business model of Network Marketing is an ideal distribution channel for product companies.

However, there are often reasons, sometimes beyond the control of the company, that affects the company. Sometimes product lines will be changed, compensation plans will be changed, or regulatory pressures will drastically change the way the business operates. These kinds of changes can have a drastic affect on your business.

In my very first Network Marketing company, I was earning a pretty good income, when my number one distributor called me one day and said, “They changed the product, we’re leaving.” My check plummeted after that and I lost everything I had put into the opportunity. A few months later, I was out of that company.

That was a hard lesson!

Unfortunately, at that time, I didn’t fully understand the lesson. I went on to several other Network Marketing companies never did build as big a business as I had in that first one.

Well, this weekend I had an epiphany!

I realized that all these years, I was doing Network Marketing all wrong!

You see, I spent this weekend working on my system, and part of the system is some free videos that I’m giving away as bonuses to my newsletter subscribers.

Several years ago I purchased an incredible product called MLM Traffic Formula. It was written by Mike Dillard from Magnetic Sponsoring. MLM Traffic Formula changed the way people thought about their Network Marketing business. It literally revolutionized the way Network Marketing was done.

Well, over the weekend I watched a video that Mike Dillard produced, in which he white boards the entire MLM Traffic Formula! He explains in easy to understand language why you want to be an Entrepreneur, and not just a distributor. This video could quite literally be the catalyst that leads to your success in Network Marketing.

I’m giving away free access to this video and several others on Network Marketing, to my newsletter subscribers. All you need to do to watch these videos is subscribe to my newsletter by filling out the form that slides up the page. Once you confirm your subscription, you’ll be taken to a page where you can access all these videos.

In addition to the videos, you’ll be plugged-in and get first notification of new tools, products, services and systems that I’m personally using to build my Network Marketing business.

It is simple to to subscribe. Simply fill out the form that slides up when you click on this blog. If you missed it, simply click on the title of the story, and you’ll have another opportunity.

When you confirm your subscription, then you’ll be given access to the videos.

Did you enjoy this post? Please show me some love by leaving a comment below and I’ll show you some luv back. Also, please share this post with your friends.

I just finished taking a mid-term in Computer Programming II and I’m really frustrated! To relax myself, I need to write, which may seem strange to many of you.

The first 20 questions were multiple choice / true – false questions. I went through those fairly quickly and feel confident that I did well on them. The next 4 questions were, “What is the output, or What is wrong” type questions, which I still feel confident that I did well with.

The last question, however, was a “Write a program that does this” type of question. When I started, I thought I knew the solution, so I went through and wrote the code. Well, as I kept testing the code and it wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do, I got more and more frustrated. I tried every way I could imagine to solve the issue, but I just couldn’t get it to work! I finally had to turn it in because I had worked on the test for over 1 1/2 hours, and it was time to continue the class.

I was so frustrated I was shaking and I couldn’t really concentrate on the rest of the lecture. I kept going over the problem in my head.

You might be wondering, “What does that have to do with Network Marketing? And what does that title mean?”

Well, let me explain.

When you join Network Marketing, you should learn from your sponsor about how to build the business. You sponsor should show you the tools you need and train you how to build your MLM business. You might get frustrated because you are not having immediate success that you think you should. It is times like these when it is easy to get distracted from what you are doing.

You may start searching the Internet to see if there is an easier way. Suddenly you start thinking, “When I get that lead system, then I’ll start building my list.” Or, “When I get that book, then I’ll know the secrets to instant success.” Or, my favorite (NOT), “When I join that company, then I’ll be able to start seeing success.”

It is easy to get distracted and become a “When I getter”. However, Network Marketing takes work. There is a learning curve, and you need to stay focused on what you are trying to achieve.

When you start getting distracted. go back to your Why, and renew your determination to stay focused and press on.

Network Marketing is NOT a get-rich-quick program. It is a get RICH slowly program, but it will work if you stick with it and stay focused.

One way to help you focus on your goals is to immerse yourself in uplifting and inspiring audios and videos. Whenever I start losing my focus, I turn to John DiLemme.

John is one of the most inspiring Success Coaches I have ever heard. He starts almost every audio program with “Hello Champion!” That phrase just inspires me to be a Champion!

No matter what business you are doing or going to do, you need to define why you are doing it. If you don’t have a strong enough why, then it will be tough to overcome obstacles that will come up.

Money is never a strong enough why. Everyone says money, but if that’s all you’re chasing, you’ll lose focus.

Instead of money, define your why by what you want to gain, do, achieve with that money.

For example, do you want to travel to see the Seven Wonders of the World? Do you want to take a safari in Africa? Do you want to take cruises multiple times a year? These are all good, but probably not specific enough for your why.

How about, you want to earn money so you can build a shelter for homeless children, fund research for a specific disease someone you love suffers from, or donate to a hospital so they can build a childrens care center? These start to tug at your heart, and are some pretty good why statements.

Your why might also be simply that you want to have the money to allow your children to participate in activities they haven’t been able to do before, such as summer camps, sports leagues, or band camp.

Whatever your why is, it has to be strong enough that it will help you through the tough times, and there will be tough times ahead. Your why needs to be so strong that when you have spent all month promoting your opportunity, and nobody has even called you back, that you’ll keep going the next month. It has to be so strong that if your web site crashes the day you launch a new ad campaign that you spent thousands of dollars to promote, that instead of giving up in frustration, you find a way to get your web site fixed and promote again.

Every day I listen to motivational and self-development materials so I can focus on building myself so I can achieve my WHY. John Di Lemme has created an incredible CD and DVD program that will help you discover your WHY and get laser focused on achieving it. Go check out this awesome CD and DVD set and learn how to Find Your Why NOW!

If you have a strong enough why, your why will drive you to success.

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